Smart car seat promises no worries
The Downtown-based maker of high-end baby products — 4moms — said it has developed a self-installing car seat that assures parents their little ones are properly secured. Robotics technology and advanced sensors give visual and voice commands to guide parents through the installation and continuously monitor the status of the seat. The new car seats, priced at $499.99, will be available online and at select stores in June.
Vanguard attracts record deposits
Vanguard Group Inc., the biggest U.S. mutual fund provider, attracted a record $236 billion in net deposits in 2015 as investors flocked to passively managed products. The flood of money into the firm’s U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds broke the previous record of $214.5 billion set in 2014, spokesman John Woerth wrote in an email Tuesday. Vanguard, based in Valley Forge, Pa., manages $3.4 trillion. The firm is benefiting from a growing preference for vehicles that track indexes as investors lose faith in the ability of active managers to beat the market. On Monday, BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, said its ETFs, which mainly track indexes, pulled in a record $130 billion in investor cash last year.
Mylan to launch generic version of oral contraceptive
Mylan announced the U.S. launch of the generic version of Janssen’s Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo oral contraceptive tablets.
NRG Home CEO leaves company amid reorganization plan
Steve McBee has stepped down as president and CEO of NRG Home, a unit of the independent power producer NRG Energy Inc. A spokeswoman for Princeton, N.J.- based NRG, said Tuesday that Mr. McBee left the company this month. She didn’t provide a reason for his departure. Mr. McBee joined NRG Home in December 2014 from Washington-based McBee Strategic Consulting. His exit comes about a month after the departure of David Crane, NRG Energy’s longtime CEO. NRG Energy announced in September plans to reorganize, including forming a renewable energy unit and potentially selling a majority stake in it to pay down debt. NRG’s Home Solar unit had about 2 percent of the U.S. residential solar market in the first nine months of 2015, ranking it fourth, according to GTM Research.
Spirit Airlines replaces CEO after stock tumbles
Spirit Airlines Inc. replaced CEO Ben Baldanza following a year in which the low-fare carrier’s stock sank under pressure from bigger rivals. Robert L. Fornaro was named president and CEO, effective immediately, the Miramar, Fla.-based airline said. Mr. Fornaro, 62, has been a Spirit director since May 2014 and was AirTran’s president and CEO for more than three years until May 2011. He also has been an executive at US Airways and Northwest Airlines.
Golfer Greg Norman vies with Mattel for kids’ tablet maker Fuhu
A private-equity firm founded by golfer Greg Norman won court permission to supplant toy giant Mattel Inc. as the lead bidder in a bankruptcy auction for children’s tablet maker Fuhu Inc. The judge overseeing Fuhu’s case said he will approve rules for an auction this month in which an affiliate of Mr. Norman’s fund will make the opening bid of $10 million — $500,000 more than Mattel had said it would pay when Fuhu filed for bankruptcy in December.
First Published: January 6, 2016, 5:00 a.m.